Fridman uses a variety of rhetorical strategies to convey her opinions on the degrading stigma of America's intellectually gifted and the stereotype society has concocted. These strategies include variation in sentence structure, juxtaposition, imagery, and rhetorical questions.
The author uses a wide variety of sentence structure to create emphasis within the essay. Fridman writes, "Enough is Enough," This statement is followed by a longer sentence illustrating what he is trying to convey. Here Fridman uses the sentence structure to show a shift in the essay where he transitions from explaining the issue, to taking a stance on the issue.
He also uses multiple juxtapostions to get his point across. In the first half of the essay, he juxtaposes "children who read books" and kids who play football. Fridman states, "Children who read books... become social outcasts..." By putting the 2 types of children side by side, he is able to show the absurdity of ostracizing smart kids. Fridman uses a second jutapostition later in the essay to further reiterate his opinion on "geeks" but on a global scale. He states, "There are few countries...example to other students." In this sentence from the excerpt, by setting the U.S as a whole next to a country in East Asia, Fridman creates emphasis supporting his argument because America is in constant competition with these countries. By appealing to patriotism, Fridman almost creates a sense of "unamericanism."
In the last paragraph, Fridman ends his essay with rhetorical questions such as, "How can a country...race with japan?" Fridman uses the questions to appeal to patriotism and provoke the readers thought, as he ends with a sense of mystery.
Through th deliberate and delicate use of rhetorical strategy, Fridman tastefully and efficiently conveys his opinion on "America's Nerds."
The author uses a wide variety of sentence structure to create emphasis within the essay. Fridman writes, "Enough is Enough," This statement is followed by a longer sentence illustrating what he is trying to convey. Here Fridman uses the sentence structure to show a shift in the essay where he transitions from explaining the issue, to taking a stance on the issue.
He also uses multiple juxtapostions to get his point across. In the first half of the essay, he juxtaposes "children who read books" and kids who play football. Fridman states, "Children who read books... become social outcasts..." By putting the 2 types of children side by side, he is able to show the absurdity of ostracizing smart kids. Fridman uses a second jutapostition later in the essay to further reiterate his opinion on "geeks" but on a global scale. He states, "There are few countries...example to other students." In this sentence from the excerpt, by setting the U.S as a whole next to a country in East Asia, Fridman creates emphasis supporting his argument because America is in constant competition with these countries. By appealing to patriotism, Fridman almost creates a sense of "unamericanism."
In the last paragraph, Fridman ends his essay with rhetorical questions such as, "How can a country...race with japan?" Fridman uses the questions to appeal to patriotism and provoke the readers thought, as he ends with a sense of mystery.
Through th deliberate and delicate use of rhetorical strategy, Fridman tastefully and efficiently conveys his opinion on "America's Nerds."
Reflection
This is a rhetorical analysis essay that I wrote closer to the end of the year (end of the year being close to the AP exam) so, I consider it to be one of my best. In the beginning of the year, the term "rhetorical analysis" was completely foreign to me. I had no idea what one of these essays woulld entail. Gradually, as we wrote more and more of these, I found myself getting a deeper understanding of what I needed to do in order to be successful in my execution. I took it step bby step. First I focused on getting a basic outline of what I needed to inculde in my essay: An introduction, 3-4 rhetorical devices, explanations, and a closing. After I mastered the outine, I tried to expand my knowledge of rhetorical devices so that I could pick out things the author did deliberately that were less obvious. I also began to annotate the passages provided more thoroughly. I found that when I annotated, I comprehended the passage more and was able to explain the author's rhetorical devices better. I could tell that as I used these tips and goals I set for myself, I improved my writing skills. By the tme we reciveved this prompt, we had already completed so many rhetorical analysis essays, writing this was like second nature. It also was very easy for me to do the rhetorical analysis essay on the AP exam in May. I felt very prepared and I wasn't too worried about not getting a 3 or a 4. I still haven't really understood when I may need to write a rhetorical analysis paper in my adult or proffesional life but I'm not too concerned because I enjoy writing in general. I look forward to seeing the long term benefits this skill may reveal to me in the future.